Internet‐based self‐tailored deposit contracts to promote smoking reduction and abstinence

Deposit contracting may reduce costs and increase efficacy in contingency management interventions. We evaluated two Internet‐based deposit contract arrangements for smoking. In Experiment 1, nine participants deposited self‐selected amounts that could be earned back for meeting goals. During treatment, participants were reimbursed for breath samples with less than or equal to 6 parts per million carbon monoxide and met the criterion for 47% of samples compared to 1% during baseline. In Experiment 2, 10 participants’ deposits were matched up to $50. No samples met the criterion during baseline but 41.5% met it during treatment. The average deposit was $82 in Experiment 1 and $49 in Experiment 2. Participants rated the intervention favorably and sample submission rates were high. These experiments suggest that Internet‐based self‐tailored deposits are acceptable, feasible, and can promote brief reduction and abstinence in some smokers. Future research should investigate individual and intervention factors that affect long‐term cessation and uptake of deposit contracts.